learnosaurusrex:RSC Fusil Automatique Modèle 1917/1918 in 8X50mmRIn the neverending search for tacti
learnosaurusrex:RSC Fusil Automatique Modèle 1917/1918 in 8X50mmRIn the neverending search for tactical advantage over ze filthy Boche during the First World War, the French military envisioned a semi-automatic rifle to replace their obsolete Lebel 1886 rifles in mass numbers. Earlier attempts at such a weapon, such as the Meunier rifle with its more modern proprietary ammunition, could not be produced for reasons of logistics, and thus the RSC M1917 Rifle was developed with Lebel parts and ammunition instead.Where once the Lebel’s tube magazine sat became the housing for a long-stroke piston, and a five-round box magazine was used for loading. As with such quality one could expect from joint development with the Chauchat team, the 1917 suffered from jamming problems with its complicated bolt design and exposed receiver.The second rifle, the RSC M1918, was a dedicated improvement over the 1917 model with capability to use Berthier rifle clips, shorter barrel, rotating dust cover, and locking-open bolt after expending the magazine. It is an odd thought, with John C Garand’s early career in attempting to adapt the M1918 into a .30-06 cartridge, that many of its features also found their way into the M1 Garand. By war’s end, France had been the only European power to seriously equip their regular infantry with some 85,000 semi-auto rifles instead of the standard bolt-action of the day, with few M1918’s seeing action on the front before being subsequently used to good effect in the Moroccan Rif War. -- source link
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